Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2-Disc Special Edition) (DVD)

Well, here it is, the review you have all been waiting for. Yeah right! Unless you want confirmation that this is a DVD worth owning, you have probably already pre-ordered your copy or are just waiting until March 7 to rush on over to the store and pick a copy up for yourself. Either way, I am here to tell you it IS worth owning and I am about to eat my words after I wrote in my theatrical review that "Prisoner of Azkaban remains my favorite Potter flick." That sentiment no longer prevails as Goblet of Fire is much more fun to watch over and over. I should know, I watched it twice last week and with so many DVDs to review that is saying something.

So, I have said Goblet of Fire is more fun to watch than Prisoner of Azkaban, but Azkaban remains the better film only because Goblet of Fire really has its timeline issues as I believe the book is so massive, turning it into a feature film took far too much condensing and I am sure Potter fanatics will agree with me on that point. It simply seems as if there was a lot more story to be told and the deleted scenes show a bit of that even if it seems like we aren't even shown everything that was deleted. There must have been more than this!

Nevertheless, the timeline issue is a nit-pick, you can obviously tell the filmmakers did their best in bringing this book to life and I applaud them for it. Goblet of Fire was the first Harry Potter flick that I did not read before seeing it in the theater and while that may cost me some story details I am fine with it since I did enjoy this movie so much.

As for this 2-Disc DVD you are getting a lot of extras from DVD games, demo PC games, a DVD-ROM Hogwarts Timeline, cast interviews and, the best of the bunch, behind-the-scenes looks at all three Tri-Wizard Tournament Challenges. It is this last bunch that really sells the special features. Personally, I don't take much stock in DVD-ROM features even though the Hogwarts Timeline is sort of cool and I am also not a fan of DVD games as they are often too slow to get any enjoyment out of (maybe Blu-ray will solve this issue). On top of that the cast interview segments are just out of my range of interest. The Harry Potter flicks are filled with special effects, let's see how those are made, and that is just what you get inside the Tri-Wizard Tournament Special Features.

The Tri-Wizard segments are broken out into all three sections and give you an in-depth look at how each was made and if hearing from the cast and the crew is something you must do then I suggest the "Reflections on the Fourth Film" segment as it is certainly the best, most concise and to the point segment of all the interview sections.

On a whole, the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire special edition DVD is another home run. Even though I don't enjoy the DVD-ROM extras I am sure enough of you out there will. Besides that, the making-of featurettes are great and the movie is fantastic, which is the real reason you are even picking this title up.

So take solace in knowing that Warner Bros. has once again given the Potter franchise a DVD worth owning.